NYC 3-K and Pre-K for All Teacher Salary (DOE vs Community Centers)

The best primary source our research found on 3-K and Pre-K for All pay is a March 5, 2024 audit by the New York City Comptroller.

It found that DOE contracts fund non-union certified pre-K teachers hired by community-based organizations (CBOs) at $61,070 with a bachelor's degree and $68,652 with a master's degree.

Those two amounts are the DOE entry salaries as of 2021.

The audit found the contract funding covered neither experience steps nor the raises DOE teachers received after 2021.

Our research did not confirm current 2026-27 salary figures for DOE or CBO pre-K and 3-K teachers.

Read the numbers on this page as the audit's record of 2021 contract terms, not as today's scale, and confirm current pay before you compare offers.

The audited rates are for certified lead teachers.

Checking actual 2021-22 payroll against the contract minimums, the Comptroller found 24% of bachelor's-level and 19% of master's-level certified CBO lead teachers were paid below those minimums.

For assistants, the picture is thinner: our research did not confirm a current salary figure for pre-K teacher assistants in NYC 3-K and Pre-K for All classrooms, and the rates cited here cover certified teachers, not assistants.

Ask the hiring CBO how its assistant rate is set and where it sits relative to the lead scale, and get the rate in the offer letter.

For the role itself — what the job involves and what programs look for — see our pre-K assistant teacher guide.

Credentials set the funded rate: DOE contracts priced a non-union certified CBO pre-K teacher at $61,070 with a bachelor's and $68,652 with a master's as of 2021.

Entry was where the funding stopped — the contracts included no money for experience steps.

The shortfall was broader among experienced teachers: the Comptroller found 80-90% of experienced certified CBO teachers earned less than their DOE counterparts.

That is the gap the 2019 agreement between Local 205 and the Day Care Council (DCCNY) was meant to close.

It promised CBO certified teachers entry-rate pay parity with DOE by October 1, 2021 — entry rates, not the experience steps DOE teachers accrue — and the Comptroller concluded it did not deliver actual pay parity.

The Comptroller's audit compared certified teachers at CBO early childhood centers, whose pay the DOE funds through contracts, with their DOE counterparts.

The contract rates were pegged to the DOE entry salaries as of 2021, with no funding for experience steps or the later raises DOE teachers received.

That is the mechanism behind the audit's findings: teachers doing comparable certified pre-K work in a CBO center and in a DOE building can sit on different pay tracks, with the CBO track anchored to a 2021 entry figure.

For how parity agreements are structured, what entry-rate parity covers and where the broader parity effort stands, see our pre-K pay parity guide.

The setting drives the scale you are paid on, so make it your first screening question.

Ask whether the classroom is in a DOE school building or a CBO early childhood center, which salary schedule applies, and where your degree and years of experience place you on it.

Because current 2026-27 figures were not confirmed in our research, treat any quoted number as a starting point and get the step and raise structure in writing before you accept an offer.

Benchmark offers against the occupation data on our pre-K teacher salary page, browse pre-K teacher jobs, and read the pre-K teacher career guide for the role's duties, settings and credentials.

Career information, not licensing or legal advice. Confirm current salary terms with the New York City Department of Education or the community-based organization hiring for the role.